Green hydrogen has endured its share of turbulence: cost spikes, wavering investor confidence, and scepticism about timelines. But Iceland sits outside that narrative. With its high-capacity renewable power, compact permitting environment, and integrated energy system, it offers something rare: the ability to take a green fuel project from concept to commercial scale without collapsing under its own complexity.
For Nanna Baldvinsdóttir, Co-Founder and CEO of IdunnH2, Iceland’s location is strategic:
“I’ve been working in the power industry here for 20 years… these projects are complex, but the fundamentals in Iceland make that complexity easier to work with.”
Those fundamentals matter even more when you realise where Iceland sits on the map: directly on the transatlantic corridor, between two of aviation’s busiest long-haul markets. This geography opens a compelling idea: Iceland as a green fuel bridge between North America and Europe.
Here are the key highlights of the conversation:
Why Iceland is uniquely suited for large scale hydrogen and e-fuel projects (1:42)
IdunnH2’s first eSAF project near Keflavík Airport (4:23)
Why hydrogen mega-projects require “system builders” (5:02)
Iceland as a future green aviation fuel bridge across the Atlantic (8:29)
Why cost competitiveness with Jet A isn’t the right benchmark (20:05)
The project’s biggest challenge: securing sustainable carbon feedstock (22:38)
Why aviation buyers move faster than maritime buyers (31:56)
The advantages and disadvantages of building climate tech in Iceland (35:16)
Keep reading for a detailed overview of the episode.
A pivot that unlocked a new role
IdunnH2 began life as a hydrogen-export concept. But midway through a feasibility study, the team pivoted toward synthetic aviation fuel (e-kerosene). Why?
“SAF allows us to reach commercial scale,” Nanna says. “There is enough aviation demand to offtake everything we can produce.”
The pivot also aligned the project with Icelandic reality. While the country is famous for geothermal energy, its existing baseload is already allocated, meaning any new large-scale project requires new renewable power. In practice, that means wind.
But new wind farms are politically sensitive, particularly if they are seen as enabling exports rather than serving Icelandic needs. As Nanna puts it, “It’s a much harder sell if the wind park is built for export.”
By producing e-SAF for Iceland’s own aviation sector, which uses around ten times more jet fuel per capita than the EU average, IdunnH2 strengthens its social licence and aligns the project with national priorities.
This is where the “green fuel bridge” concept becomes powerful:
Iceland can decarbonise its domestic aviation first, creating the social licence for new renewables.
The climate benefit of any additional certified SAF can then flow through “book-and-claim” to airlines across Europe and North America.
Over time, Iceland becomes a node in the global e-fuel system.
Why book-and-claim matters for Iceland
A major theme of the conversation is Nanna’s view that aviation is an eager customer, constantly looking for new SAF sources.
“I get cold calls from airlines, and we’re four years away from production.”
But IdunnH2’s strategy is not to physically export e-kerosene. The company intends to supply Icelandic aviation first, both because the country relies heavily on air travel, and because tying new wind power to domestic climate goals strengthens project viability.
Even so, the output from the Helguvík plant may exceed what Iceland’s airlines can physically uplift. This is where book-and-claim becomes essential.
Instead of exporting fuel, Iceland exports the climate benefit of low-carbon e-kerosene. Airlines can purchase SAF certificates backed by Icelandic production even if they never land at Keflavík.
In this model, Iceland:
Becomes a renewables-rich producer serving its domestic aviation sector
Ensures surplus certificates, not molecules, flowing abroad
Enables transatlantic airlines to participate through book-and-claim
The result is a wider strategic opportunity: Iceland becomes a virtual SAF hub for transatlantic aviation, with the climate impact allocated there through credible systems tied to real low-CI production.
The human factor behind megaprojects
Hydrogen projects are often framed as engineering challenges. For Nanna, they are equally people challenges.
“You’re asking several partners to step out of their comfort zones at the same time… you need to understand their timelines, risks, margins, motivations.”
This is where Iceland’s scale helps. Coordinating permitting officials, wind developers, the airport operator, municipal authorities, and airlines is far easier in a country with the population of Cardiff than in large federal systems.
Being small becomes a competitive advantage.
The gender gap that still hasn’t closed
Iceland has a global reputation for gender equality, yet Nanna notes that female founders still receive less funding.
“It’s subtle, but it’s measured… many investors don’t realise they have different expectations when a woman is speaking,” says Nanna.
It’s a reminder that clean-energy ambition does not automatically erase systemic asymmetries. Iceland is ahead, but the journey is not over.
Looking ahead: the ISA facility and beyond
By 2030, Nanna hopes to see the Helguvík “Pride of Iceland” e-kerosene plant online, transferred to a specialist operator, and serving both Icelandic aviation and the wider transatlantic corridor through book-and-claim.
Beyond that, she sees IdunnH2 developing a portfolio of projects: e-diesel, e-methanol, and whatever the next commercially viable molecule may be.
That ambition, one project delivered, the next already in view, is what turns Iceland from a niche SAF producer into a sustained green fuel bridge.
A small country with an outsized role
To scale e-kerosene, the world needs:
Low-cost, reliable renewables
High utilisation rates
Social licence for new builds
Motivated early buyers
Credible book-and-claim systems
Strategic geography
Very few places meet all six. Iceland does. IdunnH2 may demonstrate a model for how a country with abundant renewables can become an aviation-focused e-fuel hub by exporting climate benefits through book-and-claim.
At a moment when global clean hydrogen confidence is shaky, Iceland and start-ups in its energy ecosystem show what steady, aligned, pragmatic decarbonisation can look like.
